Monday, April 18, 2011

A day at Mauna and Lee’s


I spent the afternoon at my wonderful neighbor’s
house taking pictures of their beautiful garden...



creativity in every corner.




This once barren, weedy landscape took a few years
to pull together but just look at it now.





An eye for beauty and detail.


unusual plants


color and texture created with non-thirsty plants perfect
for Southern California landscapes.




bowling balls and boulders






I covet this old neon Paint sign that they salvaged.



creative use of color and form


Bold and fearless...

Mauna and Lee are not only creative to the core but
are such good people in so many ways.  They are local activists who put countless
hours into helping their Wrigley neighborhood and the city of Long Beach.


They are also loads of fun and have great parties.




The end to a perfect day...

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Palm Sunday...




A time to reflect and renew and be reborn
and to examine your motives and the 
reasons why you do the things you do.
Are you willing to change and throw out
the behaviors that no longer work for you?


I have my faults...and my strengths...
 I choose to carefully nurture
and develop the things in me that
are good and will make me a better
person...and one that I am proud of.
This sometimes means taking a hard cold look
at who you really are.  Sometimes
the things we think are “cute” are in
truth immature, rude and unbecoming.

all art work by Guiseppe de Piero
Because what I like are people that are
doers and not talkers.   Creative people.

Givers and not takers.

The ones that take the time and sweat
and toil to accomplish their dreams and goals.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Working on the Garden

the Cecil Brunner Rose canopy.

Our garden is a never ending process of weeding, cleaning,
pruning and editing.  When you live in Southern California
the garden goes dormant for about a month and then it kicks
into high gear once again.   Therefore you are always
trimming, cutting back, weeding and transplanting.  
For some, this sounds like heaven, but when you have
to garden somewhat nonstop, it gets to be a little
tiring.  Everyone admires Bougainvillea...it
is for a fact a beautiful looking plant...But it
grows like crazy and the thorns on it are deadly sharp.
Cutting it back is not for the faint hearted.   You end
up shredded and cut and bleeding.  And if you
turn your back for one second and do not pay
attention,  it has made it’s wicked way to the
far reaching corner of the garden and it sends 
off new and razor sharp branches and back you
go standing high on a ladder hacking it down
once again.


I have been working in the “driveway garden” and
trying this year to get it to look pretty and feel great
as it is closest to the kitchen door and so it makes a great place
to hang out and also to work on my antiques.


So I am creating my little vignettes.


We don’t park our cars in the garage as it is my working 
space.  And we have stopped pulling the car behind this
gate.  I am attempting this year to pull this area together
to create a really nice place to have a meal and have
the neighbors over.


I love geraniums.  Mine just stay in pots all year
and in the Spring I repot them with fresh soil and
compost from my worm bin.





This is how many weeds came into
our front garden this year...
Overwelming...again, turned our back for a minute
and boom... they took over.





This is after Mr. Beatnheart worked all afternoon
clearing them out.  More work to do still.  This whole front
garden needs to be dug out, weed cloth barrier put in, and
new gravel layed.   Who ever said a grass free garden is low
mantainance obvioulsy never had one...like I said
never ending work.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Trips down the PCH


We took a little trip down the Pacific Coast Highway
on my husband’s birthday...
First stop, the quaint beach town of El Segundo 
where we discovered
this great little restaurant called
The Richmond Bar and Grill.
El Segundo is located right next door to LAX
so if you ever find yourself stranded at the airport
for awhile this would be a great little pit stop
for lunch.


It was like a blast from the past...
old timey soda fountain stools, lots of old
memorabilia on the walls...great beer selection
and homemade potato chips.


Next stop...San Pedro and another old little cafe.
I half expected the burgers to costs 25 cents
and nickle cokes. We didn’t eat here
because we were still stuffed from The Richmond.
 San Pedro is just south of
El Segundo and we drove the coast to get there.
The views on this drive are amazing as you course
through Rancho Palos Verde, a beautiful area
that reminds me of Maui.



The Pacific Ocean from the top of the cliffs
in San Pedro

The boats in the distance are loaded with cargo going
into the port of Long Beach.




The old Lighthouse


A fabulous Turn of the 20th Century building.







A tree that has seen many a wind blown day




This little park right on the bluffs is a great place
to spend the day with a picnic.


The park had an old Spanish Style Band shell.
I wondered if they still have concerts here.



Driving home via The Vincent Thomas Bridge.

It was a great day out and proved that little mini vacations
can be had very near your own home without boarding a plane
or driving too far.

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